Madison Butler, Melissa Clancy, Dechlan Wurramarra, teen, face total of 67 years in prison
The family of a teenager hunted down on the streets of Palmerston yelled out ‘Enjoy the 20 years you dogs’ as his killers were sentenced over his murder.
Police & Courts
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A young woman’s rage after having a drink thrown in her face has condemned four people to a total of 67 years in a Territory cell.
On Friday Madison Butler, her mother Melissa Clancy, Dechlan Wurramarra and a then-17-year-old — who cannot be identified for legal reasons — were sentenced over the murder of 18-year-old Kingsley Alley Jr in the early hours of October 8, 2022.
Darwin Supreme Court Judge Peter Barr handed down the minimum penalty to all three adult murderers, life in prison without parole for 20 years.
Over four-weeks a jury heard the young Palmerston father’s was left to bleed out on a stranger’s driveway after being beaten in the street — all over a missing purse, a fight in an Uber, a spilt drink, and a drunken insult.
The 18-year-old was murdered just 68 days after the birth of his daughter Eleanor, with his partner Madeline Roe telling the court that her baby “was a victim of crime before she could even walk or talk”.
The chaotic incident began when Mr Alley, Butler, the teenager and two others all tried to get into a single Uber to leave a birthday barbecue in Palmerston.
When the driver refused to take all five drunk passengers in a single trip, Butler ordered Mr Alley to get out of the car.
Mr Alley called the 20-year-old a s--t and threw a drink over her, before assaulting the driver with the fight spilling out onto the street.
He and the 17-year-old then got into a fight, but Mr Alley’s best friend Kodey Gundersen “substantially calmed down”.
Kingsley was last seen giving a cheeky salute to his friend before walking off into the dark streets holding only a bottle of whiskey.
But the angry and ‘disrespected’ young woman called her mother in tears, falsely claiming that Kingsley had also snatched her purse.
She and the teen were picked up by her father, Leslie Butler, with Clancy and Wurramarra already in the back seat.
Justice Barr said within 20 minutes they spotted Mr Alley walking alone and the car swerved in “a hostile and potentially dangerous manner”.
Wurramarra was armed with a knife when he stepped out of the car, while Butler and the teen made “improvised weapons” with metal poles, and started throwing bottles and rocks.
CCTV captured Mr Alley’s voice as he pleaded with his “brother” for mercy, as the screams of his attackers mixed with the scraping of metal and dogs barking.
“Please brother, Please,” Mr Alley said before Wurramarra replied “f--k ‘em I’m going to stab you again brother”.
Justice Barr said even if the 18-year-old had a violent potential, the armed trio ganging up to attack him was “poking the bear”.
He also rejected Butler’s claim that Mr Alley’s rude actions were a mitigating factor, saying the murder was “grossly disproportionate to what the deceased had said and done earlier”.
Clancy did not physically tale part in the assault, and remained in the car throughout the fatal bashing.
The then-37-year-old mother was sentenced to life in prison over just 13 words, with the jury ruling that her yelling “Kill him, get him” and “kill him Maddy, double-bank him, all of youse” made her party to the murder.
While a witness initially told police they heard this being yelled from the car, at the trial she recanted most of her evidence saying she was no longer certain if the voice was male or female, or was even inside or outside the car.
Justice Barr also said while she was “on the balance of probabilities” her screams to “kill him” were not a literal incitement to murder.
“In the Northern Territory it’s common for … speakers of what is called Aboriginal English to use the word ‘kill’ to mean seriously injure,” he said.
Outside of the Supreme Court her barrister David Edwardson confirmed he would be seeking an appeal over her life-conviction, with Wurramarra‘s barrister Jon Tippett similarly warning of a pending appeal.
Justice Barr said the mandatory sentencing rules did not apply to the youngest of the group, who was just six months out from his 18th birthday at the time of the murder.
“The legislature clearly intended clemency to be shown — even in the case of murder — up to the age of 18 years,” he said.
He said a combination of low cognitive functioning and undiagnosed attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder likely meant “you did not have the mental resources, possibly strength of character, to stand up to (Ms Butler)”.
The then 17-year-old was given a 14 year sentence, with seven years non-parole, while his co-offender faced life in prison.
As the four murderers were marched out of the docks flanked by guards, multiple members of Mr Alley’s family yelled out “enjoy the 20 years you dogs”.
Outside the court his older sister Josephine Miller-Sabino said the family was grateful that “Kingsley has found justice in the court system”.
“We will always love Kingsley, he will always be a part of us and will live through his daughter,” she said.
“We just pray that the accused take the time to reflect on their actions, and the way that they held themselves.”
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